PML-N Sweeps AJK Assembly Speaker and Deputy Speaker Elections

The newly-sworn-in Azad Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Assembly elected Chaudhry Tariq Farooq (PML-N) as its 16th Speaker and Ahmed Raza Qadri (PML-N) as Deputy Speaker on August 25, 2026, a day after the 12th Assembly's oath-taking ceremony. Farooq defeated PPP's Qasim Majeed 32-13 (one vote invalid) and Qadri defeated PPP's Abdul Ghaffar Lone by the same 32-13 margin, out of 46 votes cast in the 53-member house. PML-N AJK President Shah Ghulam Qadir congratulated both winners. The result cements PML-N's control of the assembly ahead of the AJK prime ministerial election scheduled for August 27, with Qadir and Farooq both previously named as contenders for the premiership pending a final decision by Pakistan PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif.